Log Into OSCER Systems

Creating a VS Code Server task on the login nodes can consume a significant amount of memory. If multiple users do this, this could potentially CRASH the login nodes, thus preventing all 1000+ OSCER users from logging in!

If you need help with the steps below, you're welcome to join OSCER's Zoom help sessions, held every Thursday from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM and Friday 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM.

For security reasons, access to OSCER resource is availably via Secure Shell only.

• Windows
  • (A) MobaXterm
  • (B) PuTTY
• MacOS
• Linux

Windows

(A) MobaXterm

1. Download and Install MobaXterm

• Go to the MobaXterm Home Edition page: https://mobaxterm.mobatek.net/download-home-edition.html. 
• We recommend downloading the Portable Edition, which does not require installation. After downloading, extract the contents of the ZIP file to a folder on your computer. 
  • When you run MobaXterm for the first time, a Windows Firewall prompt may appear. You can safely click Cancel to continue.

   

2. Launch MobaXterm

• Open the folder where you extracted the files and double-click the MobaXterm executable to stat the program. 
  • The file name will look similar to: MobaXterm_Personal_26.1.exe (The exact version number may vary.)

   

3. Create and start a SSH Session

• In the top left corner of MobaXterm user interface, click the Session button (computer screen icon)
  
• In the session configuration window: 
  • Select SSH at the top.
  • In the Remote host field, enter: sooner.oscer.ou.edu
  • In the Username field, enter your OSCER username.
  • Make sure the port is set to 22.
• Click OK to start the session.

• The first time you connect to OSCER, a security popup (SSH warning) will appear asking if you trust the host. Click Accept. 
• When prompted, enter your OSCER account password. 
  • Note: Nothing will appear as you type your password. This is normal behavior for secure logins.
    
• If you see an Acces Denied message, double-check your username and password and try again.
  • If you forgot your password, you can find instructions to reset it here: https://account.oscer.ou.edu/
  • If you forgot your OSCER username or registered email, please contact OSCER support at support@oscer.ou.edu
• By default, MobaXterm may ask if you want to save your password. For security reasons, this is not recommended.
• If you choose to save it, you will be asked to create a spearate master password for MobaXterm. 

 

• You are successfully connected when:
  • A terminal window opens on the right side of the screen
  • You see a command prompt ending with a $ symbol
  • Your username appears in the prompt
• After logging in:
  • The left panel displays your home directory (similar to a file explorer)
  • The right panel is the terminal where you can enter commands

   

5. Close the SSH Session

• When you finished working with OSCER:
  • You can close the curresnt session tab, or exit MobaXterm entirely
  • A confirmation message will appear. Click Yes to disconnect.  
• MobaXterm automatically saves your session settings. To reconnect in the future, simply double-click the saved session in the left panel. 

(B) PuTTY

1. Download PuTTY

• Go the official PuTTY download page: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
• On the PuTTY Download page:
  • Scroll to the Binaries section
  • Under For Windows on x86, locate the link labeled putty.exe
  • Right-click the link and select Save link as... (wording may bary by browser)
  • Save the file to your desktop or another easy-to-find location.
• The PuTTY icon looks like two small computer monitors with a lightning bolt between them.

 

2. Open PuTTY

• Double click the PuTTY icon or putty.exe file to launch the program.
  • This will open the PuTTY Configuration window. 

   

3. Configure Settings

i) Keyboard settings

• In the left-hand menu, expand Terminal, then click Keyboard
• Adjust the following settings:
  • Under The Backspace key, select Control-H
  • Under The Function keys and keypad, select Xterm R6    

   

ii) Window size

• In the left-hand menu, click Window.
• Under Set the size of the window:
  • Set Columns to 80 (this is required)
  • Set Rows to 40 (or another value if preferred)    
• Note: Do not resize the PuTTY window using the mouse, and do not click the maximize button in the top-right corner of the window. This can cause display issues when working on OSCER systems.

 

iii) X11 forwarding (optional)

• In the left hand menu, go to Connection -> SSH -> X11. 
  • Check the box for Enable X11 forwarding
• Note: This feature only works if you have an X-Windows emulator (such as Xming) installed on your computer. If you do not have one installed, you can skip this step. 

 

• In the left-hand menu, click Session. Under Basic options for your PuTTY session:
  •  In Host Name (or IP address), enter: sooner.oscer.ou.edu (Click here for a list of all OSCER login nodes.)
    • Ensure Connection type is set to SSH.

     

• In the Load, save or delete a stored session section, enter a name for the session (for example, sooner.oscer.ou.edu), then click Save. This allows you to quickly reconnect in the future without re-entering the settings

 

6. Connect and log in

• Click Open in the bottom-right corner of the PuTTY Configuration window to start the connection.
• If a PuTTY Security Alert appears, click Yes to continue.
• When prompted with login as, enter your username and press Enter.
• When prompted for your password, enter it and press Enter. 
  • Note: Nothing will appear as you type your password. This is normal behavior for secure logins.

MacOS

MacOS includes a built-in Terminal application that can be used to SSH into OSCER systems. Follow the steps below to connect from a Mac:

1. Open Terminal

• Open your hard drive and navigate to the Applications folder.
• Inside Applications, open the Utilities folder.
• Locate and double-click the Terminal application to launch it.

 

2. Start an SSH connection

• Once the Terminal window opens, you will see a Unix command prompt. At the prompt, enter the following command: ssh username@machinename
  • Replace username with your OSCER username.
  • For OSCER systems, use sooner.oscer.ou.edu as the machine name. (Click here for a list of all available OSCER login nodes)

   

3. Log in

• The first time you connect, you may see a message asking you to confirm the authenticity of the host. If prompted with a yes/no question, type Yes and press Enter to continue.
• When prompted, enter your password and press Enter.
  • Note: Nothing will appear as you type your password. This is normal behavior for secure logins.

Unix/Linux Systems

Most Unix systems already have SSH installed, so you can use it directly from the command line. Follow the same steps outlined for macOS, starting with Step 2.